Psycho (1960)
Today I start my horror movie marathon with a film even I am surprised I have not watched before. I was hesitant to watch it because, like many classic horror movies, I was afraid that I had already known the plot of the entire movie though years of pop culture references. Lucky for me the Simpsons did not do an all out spoof like the Shining.
The film follows Marion Crane, a young woman working at a job she hates and madly in love with her long distance boyfriend. Marion's boyfriend Sam Loomis tells her that they can't get married because of the debts he's inherited from his father and he's paying alimony to his ex wife. It seems that Marion is stuck in her miserable life until one Friday her boss asks her to deposit $40,000 in cash (calculated with interest at today's rate would be worth aprox. $291,667.57) at the bank for him. Marion sees the thick envelope of cash as her ticket out of Phoenix and into the arms of her beloved, so instead of depositing it at the bank, she starts to drive to California to see Sam.
While driving to California, Marion comes across a bad rainstorm and finds herself off the main highway. She decides that it isn't safe to drive any further in the rain, so she pulls off the road to Bates Motel. That's as far as I'm going to go with the plot of the movie though, because Mr. Hitchcock asked viewers not to give away the ending.
Trust me though, it it were a bad film that I don't believe is worth your time, I'd spoil the hell out of it. While I knew about the twist, and the shower scene there were lots of moments in this film that I had no idea were coming and I really enjoyed them.
In addition to enjoying this film, I've also picked up on more references from modern horror films. The biggest one would have to be Sam Loomis. In the movie Psycho, Sam is Marion Crane's boyfriend and whom she is driving to see with the $40,000. The name Sam Loomis also appears in another fantastic horror movie, Halloween. Dr. Sam Loomis is the child psychologist that becomes famous when another knife wielding murder is on the loose, Michael Myers.
I highly recommend you check out this great film.